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1/48 Tamiya Sherman British IC Firefly - 19/05/22 - finished and in the Gallery


PlaStix

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Hi all,

Really looking forward to this project. I usually like making 1/35th kits in GBs but, whem I'm hosting the GB as well, I try to go for something a little more straight forward, so I decided on this kit:

 

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I got it unpacked over the weekend to give the parts a wash in warm soapy water. This is what's in the box:

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A few closer views:

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The instructions:

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To make things slightly more complicated for myself I discovered these aftermarkets sets:

51934734427_79c92b4923_b.jpg

 

I've also got some figures and stowage I could use, if I get time! :frantic:

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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COOL 😎

 

A wee question re painting metal parts, as I know like me you are an acrylic brush painter, how do you get acrylics to adhere to PE or the metal barrel you are using? 

 

Cheers and good luck with the build,

 

Greg 👍

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3 hours ago, GREG DESTEC said:

COOL 😎

 

A wee question re painting metal parts, as I know like me you are an acrylic brush painter, how do you get acrylics to adhere to PE or the metal barrel you are using? 

 

Cheers and good luck with the build,

 

Greg 👍

Hi Greg. Thank you for your reply. With regards the metal barrel, I'm hoping the acrylic paint will go on as usual. I usually use my paints well thinned with water which has worked on PE before. I must admit, I have only used metal barrels a couple of times in the past and I don't think I had any problems.....as far as I can remember!! At some point I will check some of my older build threads to see what happened. I'll keep you posted.

 

3 hours ago, planecrazee said:

Looks like a perfect choice @PlaStixand no doubt you'll do it justice as you always do - particularly with your brush painting skills which never fail to amaze :thumbsup:

Thank you! You are too kind!

 

2 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

Now that is a sensible kit to do. 😉

Well it was more sensible before I found the PE and barrel sets for it! :banghead:

 

Kind regards, 

 

Stix

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5 hours ago, GREG DESTEC said:

COOL 😎

 

A wee question re painting metal parts, as I know like me you are an acrylic brush painter, how do you get acrylics to adhere to PE or the metal barrel you are using? 

 

Cheers and good luck with the build,

 

Greg 👍

Hello Greg similar idea to painting metal grilles for cars. Scruff the metal up with a fine sanding pad/film, maybe 800 or higher grit. That should give the surface enough of a key to grip to for the paint. Then clear it between coats. Primer may help as well. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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Very sensible choice Stix, don't blame you it's hard enough just doing the build never mind herding cats, sorry, persuading modellers to get the proverbial finger out. :whip:

 

Thanks again, in advance for organising the STGB

 

Darryl 

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I’ve got this kit sat on the shelf of doom. It was my first experience with a PE aftermarket set and that was not a good idea in 1/48 for my first time!

 

It’s a great little kit, looking forward to seeing you working your usual magic on it Stix.

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On 14/03/2022 at 18:31, Jasper dog said:

Very sensible choice Stix, don't blame you it's hard enough just doing the build never mind herding cats, sorry, persuading modellers to get the proverbial finger out. :whip:

Thanks again, in advance for organising the STGB

Darryl 

Thank you Darryl. Hopefully all the "cats" will behave themselves and I can concentrate on my kit more!! :winkgrin:

 

On 15/03/2022 at 07:45, bigfoot said:

I’ve got this kit sat on the shelf of doom. It was my first experience with a PE aftermarket set and that was not a good idea in 1/48 for my first time!

It’s a great little kit, looking forward to seeing you working your usual magic on it Stix.

Hi bigfoot and thank you. Yes I would imagine it's not ideal doing PE in 1/48 first!! Hopefully you'll get it finished one day. I've started with a bit of the PE with mine this morning.

 

Decided I needed to make a start on my build this morning. 

 

First off I started adding some of the plastic parts to the metal hull, attached with Superglue. I wasn't awfully impressed with the joining surfaces with this kit. Not as level as some of Tamiya's 1/48 offerings, in my opinion:

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This is one of the poor areas I was aware of before starting the kit - it's well documented in reviews:

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A bit of filler was required.

 

It's also well known that the track skids in this kit are a bit on the thick side:

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I was thinking of managing with them and making use of lots of mud at the weathering stage. However, I had a bit of an experiment with the PE skids supplied in the Hauler PE set. One seemed to go okay:

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It wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I don't have any PE bending jigs or specialist PE equipment. I ended up using some angled tweezers and a drill bit for forming the rounded section:

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No two are exactly identical, but I figure, once they are in place, they shouldn't be that noticeable.....hopefully! I can always go back to my mud plan!!

 

Once fixed in place I also added the missing bolt heads! That process was a little :hypnotised:

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And that's where I stopped for the day.

 

I'm hoping I'll get a bit more time on it tomorrow.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

 

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  • PlaStix changed the title to 1/48 Tamiya Sherman British IC Firefly - started 19/03/22
5 hours ago, PlaStix said:

I was thinking of managing with them and making use of lots of mud at the weathering stage. However, I had a bit of an experiment with the PE skids supplied in the Hauler PE set. One seemed to go okay:

I have some sets of LionMarc brass skids in 1/35, they are pre-formed so I will be adding those to my suspension units, once I have the dining room walls painted that is.:whip:

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On 19/03/2022 at 16:05, diases said:

The Brass was well worth the effort.  Looks a lot better

Paul 

Thank you Paul.

 

21 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

I have some sets of LionMarc brass skids in 1/35, they are pre-formed so I will be adding those to my suspension units, once I have the dining room walls painted that is.:whip:

Great that they are pre-formed.

 

20 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Painful that it is the brass does look better than the plastic on the track guides. 

Thanks Dennis.

 

12 hours ago, diablo rsv said:

I don't think anyone enjoys using photoetch but that is a big improvement and well worth the effort.

wayne

Thank you Wayne.

 

11 hours ago, edjbartos said:

Good start Stix the brass looks smashing, really does make a difference, nicely done...

Ed

Thank you Ed.

 

10 hours ago, Hewy said:

Top job ,Very well done that is stix,

Cheers Glynn.

 

I got a bit more done this morning. First I get a lot of the lower hull parts cleaned up ready for painting - a lot of seam lines removed, etc:

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And then, a while later, after a couple of thinned, with water, coats of acrylic Humbrol 252, Matt Olivegrun, applied with flat brushes - the parts looked like this:

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When I next get chance to work on this, I will be starting the base weathering on these before getting them assembled.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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On 20/03/2022 at 19:06, Jasper dog said:

Great progress, the pe skids make a huge difference. Exemplary paintwork as ever!

Darryl 

Thank you Darryl. Yesterday I realised I had left something off the bottom of the bogie units. I knew there was something to add but I was keen to get some paint on and therefore forgot about the 3 bolts that should be on each. So, with no bolts:

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Luckily, a while ago I got these:

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A short while later I'd got these done:

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The other set this evening:

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And then some paint added to match them in:

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Sorry about the quality of the photos, the light was poor this evening.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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  • PlaStix changed the title to 1/48 Tamiya Sherman British IC Firefly - minor update 22/03/22
  • 2 weeks later...

Hi @bigfoot, @Corsairfoxfouruncle and @edjbartos.

Thank you for your comments gentlemen.

 

Well it's been a couple of weeks since a proper update but I have found some time, here-n-there, to do some bits on this build.

 

First, after getting the missing bolts attached I got a very, very thinned wash of acrylic Gunship Grey (from Revell) applied over all the previously painted parts. I applied this with a medium soft brush. Once dry I used a fine pointed brush to apply a very, very thinned wash of Revell's acrylic Anthracite in and around all the details. I use water to thin all my paints. Once this was dry, I dry-brushed everything with a lighter version of the base coat (Humbrol's acrylic Matt Olivegrun) using a soft, medium flat brush. This was the result:51978322685_ba85b42092_b.jpg

 

A couple of closer views:

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You can see I got the tires painted with thinned Revell's Anthracite:

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Next up I did some work on the tracks - first up filling a few of these:

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I only filled the ones that were more likely to be visible.

 

Then I gave all the track a couple of coats of thinned Anthracite:

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Once dry, I dry-brushed all the metal track parts with Humbrol's Gunmetal (leaving the pads Anthracite) before giving everything a wash of Humbrol's Desert Yellow:

51977760631_2ea616bc43_b.jpg

 

....and then it was time to build the running gear parts:

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As the above were now ready to be fitted on the hull I decided to get the sides of the hull weathered beforehand. I always feel its easier to do do this without the running gear in place:

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To do this, I first sparingly applied some Vallejo European Mud. Next I stippled on some thinned Humbrol Dark Earth and them some Desert Yellow. Once dry, I added some streaks and runs using a range of very thinned colours and a fine pointed brush.

 

The running gear was then was fitted in place:

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The running gear will have it's weathering applied later.

 

Next, it was time to add the tracks. Before this, I stippled on some very, very thinned Dark Earth in places before adding some touches of Railmatch's Light Rust in places, using a fine pointed brush. Once dry, I started adding the individual links to the drive sprockets:

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And before long I'd got them completed. These were actually quite straightforward to do:

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While the glue was setting on the tracks, I decided to start work on the upper hull part. One of the first jobs I did, was to use some styrene sheet to fill in the missing sponsons. I don't know why Tamiya misses these so often on their kits. I used some square styrene strip, glued on the insides of the hull sides, to support the long inside edge. This was the result:

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Next week I will hopefully have chance to do some more work on the upper hull.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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  • PlaStix changed the title to 1/48 Tamiya Sherman British IC Firefly - update 03/04/22
2 hours ago, PlaStix said:

As the above were now ready to be fitted on the hull I decided to get the sides of the hull weathered beforehand. I always feel its easier to do do this without the running gear in place:

 

Well that's a bit radical! It looks good though and any incongruity between hull and suspension will be fixed when you dirty up the bogies. Nice idea!

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